RO Filter Help

[FiveToMidnight]

Hi guys,

After some searching I have found quite a few posts on the topic of RO Filters but in my quest to find a decent one I have noticed there appears to be different types of RO filters. Some say they are adequate for drinking water, others say they are adequate for aquarium/marine uses and some don't specify at all, just say they take the TDS down 99%.
I currently buy my RO water from two different marine shops so I'm thinking the one adequate for aquarium/marine uses would be what I am looking for but would like to confirm.

I was wondering if someone could point me in the direction of what I should be looking at?
Are all RO filters the same or do I need a specific type to use for growing?

I'm in Australia too, so if anyone has any examples that can be purchased here that would be great.

I did find this one on ebay.
HRO 5GPD Portable Counter TOP Reverse Osmosis RO DI TFC Membrane Water Filter | eBay

It looks like what I want and is going for a good price, but I'm a little skeptical and don't want to fork out $100 for something that won't do what I need it to do.

Any help anyone could give on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

*Bump*

 

[Papageno]

Since you are getting no love just throwing this out for you to think about.

There are really only 2 things you need to filter out. That is Chlorimate and Flouride. Likely you are on chlorine not chlorimate. If you are on chlorine you can let it air for some time and the chlorine evaporates. 5 gallon bucket evaporates in 30 min with an air pump and stone and 24 hours just sitting.

Fluoride can be done with a normal filter. Read the box.

I can look up all the info on my water district website. Don't know if you gots that ...

Filtering out the rest is not necessary in most cases and may not be a good idea if it is good stuff. You have to have real bad water to need to filter aggressive. Even just plain bad water through a normal filter will be good enough if you can get the chlorine out.

If you are growing in soil and do it right you really can throw in anything (see my journal), just no chlorine or chlorimate.

If you are in hydro the only help is that it gets the PPMs low to make the math SEEM easier. But if your tap is awesome but comes out 300 PPM all trace elements the plant uses then you would want all that.

In reality it comes with a lot of things most of which are fine.

Also if you are intending to run hydro and run "sterile" (not recommended by me personally) you do not need to remove the chlorine or chlorimate. People spend good money to go buy it at the hydro store to add it back.


Maybe your water sux...Sorry mate.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Since you are getting no love just throwing this out for you to think about.

There are really only 2 things you need to filter out. That is Chlorimate and Flouride. Likely you are on chlorine not chlorimate. If you are on chlorine you can let it air for some time and the chlorine evaporates. 5 gallon bucket evaporates in 30 min with an air pump and stone and 24 hours just sitting.

Fluoride can be done with a normal filter. Read the box.

I can look up all the info on my water district website. Don't know if you gots that ...

Filtering out the rest is not necessary in most cases and may not be a good idea if it is good stuff. You have to have real bad water to need to filter aggressive. Even just plain bad water through a normal filter will be good enough if you can get the chlorine out.

If you are growing in soil and do it right you really can throw in anything (see my journal), just no chlorine or chlorimate.

If you are in hydro the only help is that it gets the PPMs low to make the math SEEM easier. But if your tap is awesome but comes out 300 PPM all trace elements the plant uses then you would want all that.

In reality it comes with a lot of things most of which are fine.

Also if you are intending to run hydro and run "sterile" (not recommended by me personally) you do not need to remove the chlorine or chlorimate. People spend good money to go buy it at the hydro store to add it back.


Maybe your water sux...Sorry mate.

Thanks heaps for the comments, really appreciate it.
I do have access to local water reports and have posted them previously. I was told the water was quite hard and was highly advised to switch to RO. I did notice a significant difference when did this too. So I guess that's why I've stuck with it, but don't want to have to keep buying it as its a bitch to have to keep lugging 30L drums of water around all the time.
Plus the guys at the marine stores are starting to recognise me which is never good.
I just thought my own RO filter would make everything easier and cheaper.

Thanks again for the advice

 

[Skybound]

It is my experience in hydro to filter out as much local deposits as possible as too much can influence the feed regimen that I am planning for. The various nutrients we purchase are chelated to produce a specific result whereas dissolved solids in tap water or well water may not be as easily accessible to the root system, nor balanced in any way and can become difficult to work with.

Having purchased an RO unit that also had a deionizing filter, it literally reduced my ppm down to zero with the occassional 001 reading. I've found that even after adding in my nutes, the ph meter was all over the scale and I could not take a stable reading, so on a whim I bypassed the DI stage and downgraded the unit to produce the standard RO water which then gave me a base of roughly 15 ppm (+/- 10ppm). This then left me with a stable solution to get solid ph readings. So I advise against an RO unit with a DI stage. Other than that, I expect every RO unit will reduce ppm substantially, possibly the higher end ones a little bit better. I got mine from an online aquarium store here in the states for about $150 USD. I could've gotten it cheaper w/o the DI stage. I believe the one you have linked will greatly suffice, especially since I follow your grow and know you won't use it vigorously. On another note before I forget, I also have a plain single stage carbon filter that filters my cold sink water. Between that filter and my sink, the RO unit tees off of so my RO unit gets pre filtered water which has greatly extended my unit's efficiency.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Thanks Sky, I knew you would have some great input on the subject.
Could you maybe recommend one from this table that would be most appropriate?

 

[Skybound]

Not the aquarium and fish ones.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Not the aquarium and fish ones.

Do you think there is much difference between the others? I'm finding it hard to find good information on the difference between the types.
I'm thinking the alkalising+carbon one sounds like what I want.
But really don't want to buy the wrong thing.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Ok so I had a chat to the guys at Water Filter Factory on eBay and after detailing my needs they advised me to look at this system.
PRO 3 5GPD Drinking Aquarium Reverse Osmosis Water Filters RO Filter Garden | eBay
Slightly more expensive but that's cool, also doesn't have the DI filter as they agreed that using that would create unstable PH.

Quote from WFF
" a normal ro without a post filter like the pro-3 series should reduce the tds of your water by +/- 94%-96% so it should drop to between 6-10ppm."


This sounds like what I want, just want to check with you guys to see what you think? Would you buy this for yourself?

If all good will be buying ASAP

 

[Skybound]

Since your spending the $$$, consider if you plan on expanding your grow in the next 3 years. If yes, consider a filter with more output per day (GPD). If you don't see yourself growing in a significantly larger space, than this one should suffice. More plants equals larger consumption, so if your 5GPD RO fills a 30 gallon reservoir, it will take 6 days to replenish, so would you be able to make it work?

FYI, mine is 75GPD and that's considered small.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Since your spending the $$$, consider if you plan on expanding your grow in the next 3 years. If yes, consider a filter with more output per day (GPD). If you don't see yourself growing in a significantly larger space, than this one should suffice. More plants equals larger consumption, so if your 5GPD RO fills a 30 gallon reservoir, it will take 6 days to replenish, so would you be able to make it work?

FYI, mine is 75GPD and that's considered small.

Good point sky. I just noticed the link I posted says 5GPD but in the listing it says 50GPD and they advise it will do 150+/- LPD (liters per day) so it should be good enough should I choose to upgrade my grow.
I am planning to expand, but not massively and not anytime soon. So I think this one should do nicely for the output. I should only need to run it every so often for my needs.

I was more concerned about making sure it was the correct filters

 

[outdoormaster]

PureWaterClub.com

I run the 150gpd it will put out 50 gal in 24hr, My water pressure is low. but it give me 0ppm

 

[FiveToMidnight]

PureWaterClub.com

I run the 150gpd it will put out 50 gal in 24hr, My water pressure is low. but it give me 0ppm

Thanks heaps for the info, really appreciate it.
Looks like some good units at good prices but I notice they all seem to have a DI stage which I believe causes unstable PH readings.
Have you experienced PH problems at all?

 

[OldMedUser]

High 5

You don't want the DI or alkalizing part on an RO unit so you should be able to get one with higher output for cheaper without those things. The alkalizer adds minerals to the water to raise the pH for drinking which is good for you but not to feed your plants. Won't harm the plants but will keep the pH up which you don't want. Use CalMag with RO water tho to prevent deficiencies in Mg and Ca. 1/2 dose of it is all you really need as most people use too much especially if they are using tap water which is almost always too high in both.

If the alkalizing unit can be bypassed easily to make water for your plants then switched on to make drinking water then I'd recommend that. Use the pure RO water in your coffee maker and sprinkle a bit of Himalayan pink sea salt on top of the coffee to add good minerals and make a better cup of coffee. The pure water will not build up minerals in the coffee maker and plug it up. This is important to me as my BUNN coffee maker cost $150 and I want it to last for a decade at least. 5 now and still brews a pot in 3 min like a new one.

An RO filter will remove chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals and most of the fluoride. A new filter will give you almost zero ppm and once you get readings up to 50 then it's time to replace the membrane filter which is the heart of the unit.

One thing I would do is replace the 5 micron filter that comes with most units with a 1 or 0.5 micron filter. Better charcoal filters can be had as well than what most come with. The cleaner the feed water the longer the expensive membrane filter will last and if you are using tap water for the feed there are not many particles bigger than 5 micron in it anyway.

Most filters do NOT remove fluoride. The following is a quote from Flouride Alert dot Org.

Water Filters: One way of avoiding the fluoride from tap water is to purchase a water filter. Not all water filters, however, remove fluoride. The three types of filters that can remove fluoride are reverse osmosis, deionizers (which use ion-exchange resins), and activated alumina. Each of these filters should be able to remove about 90% of the fluoride. By contrast, "activated carbon" filters (e.g., Brita & Pur) do not remove fluoride.

Brita and Pur are shitty filters anyway. Zero Water filters use a 5 stage filter that is vastly superior and will give almost as good a product as an RO unit that would be sufficient for a very small grow or just to make sure you have clean drinking water at hand. Straight RO water is not the best for drinking as it leaches minerals from you so we add some Himalayan pink sea salt to ours for a better taste and to add good minerals to it.

 

[Skybound]

On a side note, Alkaline water is very good for drinking, it does wondrous things inside your body, just like cannabis. If you ever get the chance to drink some 9.5 from an alkaline water machine, please take advantage.

 

[FiveToMidnight]

High 5

You don't want the DI or alkalizing part on an RO unit so you should be able to get one with higher output for cheaper without those things. The alkalizer adds minerals to the water to raise the pH for drinking which is good for you but not to feed your plants. Won't harm the plants but will keep the pH up which you don't want. Use CalMag with RO water tho to prevent deficiencies in Mg and Ca. 1/2 dose of it is all you really need as most people use too much especially if they are using tap water which is almost always too high in both.

If the alkalizing unit can be bypassed easily to make water for your plants then switched on to make drinking water then I'd recommend that. Use the pure RO water in your coffee maker and sprinkle a bit of Himalayan pink sea salt on top of the coffee to add good minerals and make a better cup of coffee. The pure water will not build up minerals in the coffee maker and plug it up. This is important to me as my BUNN coffee maker cost $150 and I want it to last for a decade at least. 5 now and still brews a pot in 3 min like a new one.

An RO filter will remove chlorine, chloramine, heavy metals and most of the fluoride. A new filter will give you almost zero ppm and once you get readings up to 50 then it's time to replace the membrane filter which is the heart of the unit.

One thing I would do is replace the 5 micron filter that comes with most units with a 1 or 0.5 micron filter. Better charcoal filters can be had as well than what most come with. The cleaner the feed water the longer the expensive membrane filter will last and if you are using tap water for the feed there are not many particles bigger than 5 micron in it anyway.

Most filters do NOT remove fluoride. The following is a quote from Flouride Alert dot Org.



Brita and Pur are shitty filters anyway. Zero Water filters use a 5 stage filter that is vastly superior and will give almost as good a product as an RO unit that would be sufficient for a very small grow or just to make sure you have clean drinking water at hand. Straight RO water is not the best for drinking as it leaches minerals from you so we add some Himalayan pink sea salt to ours for a better taste and to add good minerals to it.

Thanks heaps for your comments OMU, I really appreciate your expertise!
I understand what you are saying and it appears that the one the company advised me to get should work nicely. Doesn't have an alkalising or DI stage and they say it should drop ppm down to almost 0 and keeping stable ph.

Some great tips for drinking too, I was thinking if I could use it for both. But being we have decent drinking water here it wasn't top priority.

From the info I've got in this thread I think I'll buy the one posted on the previous page today

Thanks heaps again!

On a side note, Alkaline water is very good for drinking, it does wondrous things inside your body, just like cannabis. If you ever get the chance to drink some 9.5 from an alkaline water machine, please take advantage.

I will keep that in mind, thanks Sky!

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Just thought it would update by saying I ended up getting the filter advised by the company and appears to be spot on what I wanted.

PRO 3 5GPD Drinking Aquarium Reverse Osmosis Water Filters RO Filter Garden | eBay

It actually does 50GPD (not 5) and gets my water from around 180ppm down to 12ppm with a stable PH of 8.5 after 24 hours of testing.

If there is anyone else in Australia looking for a good RO filter at a good price then I highly advise you check out the above link or Water Filter Factory on eBay. They have great service and good items at good prices.

 

[Skybound]

@12 ppm, your water should be closer to neutral (7.0). Is your ph meter calibrated?

 

[FiveToMidnight]

@12 ppm, your water should be closer to neutral (7.0). Is your ph meter calibrated?

Yes I calibrate it often. Do you think this is a problem?

 

[FiveToMidnight]

Ph seems to be keeping pretty stable and stays where I set it after adding all my nutes and a little ph down. I've tested it over 24 hours so I'm hoping this means the filter is good and was the right one to get.

I need to try and get a better ph meter as the one I have is quite basic and not the most expensive. Unfortunately it always comes down to funding issues but hoping once I can get my grows going properly I should have more money at my disposal due to not having to buy weed anymore.
Every time I calibrate my current meter it appears to work and when I test it I find no issues. So I think I can trust it. It would be nice to have a good one I know o can trust though